


step step leap

by arianrhod



Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-04 22:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianrhod/pseuds/arianrhod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve follows Bucky to Europe, the pursuit of perfection being a worthwhile way to live your life.</p><p>Ballet AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Most names of promotions/leavers/joiners plundered liberally from a list of current/former SHIELD agents because I am the worst at making up names and also because it makes me laugh.
> 
> In this fic, everyone is in love with everyone and nothing hurts except your feet after standing in place for four hours during Sleeping Beauty. If I could figure out whether this is in cinematic continuity or comics continuity, then we'd all know. Mostly it's just my favorite characters.
> 
> Ballet is a passion, pursuit, and peculiar obsession of mine, but I've never been in a company so doubtful I got everything or even anything right. They are in the Royal because it's the company I know the most about, academically speaking. Beyond that, au au au. Especially with all the comic book characters running around.
> 
> But they're all still in tights so we're golden.

_Promotions, Leavers and Joiners, 2011/2012 Season -_

_This season will see promotions to Soloist for Ted Bailey, Natasha Romanov, Sayuri Kyota and James Barnes; to First Soloist for Ken Avery, Sharon Carter, Alisanda Morales, and Alexander Pierce; and to First Artist for Ayna Sareva, Jakuna Singh, Isadore Kohen and Valerie Tooms._

_First Soloist Dino Manelli and Artist Val Adair will be departing the company, along with Principal Cameron Vaughn whose last performance was in May. Long-time director Nicholas Fury has retired, effective at the last performance of_ Water’s Promise, _(see below for video of the emotional curtain call and flower toss!) to be replaced by hand-picked successor Viriginia Potts. She brings with her recently selected choreographer-in-residence Anthony Stark._

_Joiners for this season include Peter Parker and Kali Vries from the Royal Ballet School as Artists and Steve Rogers as Principal from American Ballet Theater._

\---

"Bucky! Get out! Did you see this?"

The exclamation is followed by an enthusiastic, two-handed shove that nearly knocks Bucky clean across the hallway.

"Steve, jesus, calm down. No, obviously I just got here. I haven't somehow magically seen the casting already. _No_ , stop, if you keep shoving me I'll never be able to read it, you jerk." Bucky manages to evade a second assault, ducking under Steve's stupidly long arms to get within reading distance of the casting sheets.

Ugh, he hates this part, scanning a long line of tiny type trying to spot his name. Oh, he's up for the new Stark piece, that should be interesting, see what the new choreographer-in-residence is capable of. Couldn't be worse than the last guy who didn't know a plie from an artistic squat. There, he's dancing the first movement of Concerto, okay, well enough, and apparently just a corps role in the new full length ballet at the end of the year, that's gonna be--

"Ugh, you idiot, here, _here_." Steve moans in frustration and pulls Bucky to the end of the last column of paper sheets of paper, emphatically pointing at the list of names so insistently Bucky can't even see what he's so worked up about.

"Stop, stop it," Bucky growls, waving Steve off before he pokes straight through the paper into the wall. "Oh, hey, congrats Steve. I'm sorry, this is great. You haven't even been here a year and you got Romeo. You lucky asshole, it's going out in cinemas too. They'll be able to watch you back at ABT and kick themselves into an early grave for letting you hop the pond."

Steve doesn't reply, just stares at Bucky for a whole minute. Bucky wonders if something is going wrong with his face, or Steve's face, or something, but decides maybe Steve was expecting a hug. As well he should, it's an awesome part and unexpected to boot. He deserves it though, Steve deserves his name on the freaking theater in Bucky's opinion.

Steve won't stop staring at him, so Bucky decides to go for the hug.

Steve wards him easily off with a hand. "You--you complete idiot. _Look. Here._ " He stabs his finger at the paper and grabs Bucky by the back of the neck as if he can force the words on the page into Bucky's eyes.

"Oh. _Oh!_ " Bucky says, and then stops with his mouth still a little bit open. Steve is trying to roll his eyes but it's not working with the thousand watt beaming thing he's got going on.

Mercutio. Bucky's name, up for a debut as Mercutio. Romeo's best friend. 

They'd talked about this, back at JKO after they saw Summers and Grey dance the rather famous 2001 production. They'd talked about it again when Steve had guested at the POB as Romeo, and again when Bucky got cast as Benvolio three years ago in the last RB production. How they were obviously the best choice for this, as actual friends. They'd barely even need to act that part. They had a running joke-not-quite-a-joke about how willing Bucky really was to die for Steve.

It was all there. Steve made the perfect Romeo of course, and Bucky was ready to dance his ass off to earn a spot on the stage next to him if he ever could be worthy of it.

Besides that it would just be fun, flat out.

But before the inevitable feelings of inadequacy, which come from anyone standing in front of the casting list (or next to Steve) for too long, can rear up, Steve is giving Bucky one of those bear hugs that means nothing else matters.

Then Natasha is exaggeratedly trying to elbow them aside to get her own look and Sharon somehow materializes behind them to offer congratulatory shoulder pats and Carol comes down the hallway and maybe even looks in Bucky's direction which is a massive compliment in itself and maybe Bucky finally feels like the past five years spent on foreign soil toiling at the only job worth doing anymore has really, really not been for nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Bucky finds himself with a break after his second rehearsal on the new Stark piece so he parks himself in the doorway of Barret studio to watch Steve and Carol rehearse for the first time; it's like he's back in New York, watching the principals take class at the school.

Steve gives him a bashful wave; the ballet mistress glares until Bucky's skin crawls but miraculously doesn't make him leave.

They're working the balcony scene first, something about how everything in the ballet builds out from that moment. It's murderously long to Bucky, he's more for the swordfighting Acts I and II.

But Carol and Steve dancing together, well.

Steve's never been able to hide an emotion in his life; his face is all light and openness and as Romeo, he just ... _shines_ , better than any other dancer in the world. Bucky's usually right about these things.

And Carol is always perfect, perfect for everything but also for Juliet and for Steve's partner. Nasty things had been said about Steve being brought in only to partner Carol, god forbid a ballerina be taller than 5'6"; Steve is no prop but Carol is more than good enough to deserve a prop if he were.

She sails in his arms, she is wind and power to Steve's grounding and strength.

Even Olga seems to think it's something special because she refrains from stopping them every eight seconds for corrections.

Bucky misses nearly fifteen minutes of his next rehearsal.

\---

"I told Olga you might come, so that's why she didn’t shut the door on your face." Steve tells him by way of greeting when they are passing each other in the hall, Bucky towards the stage for Concerto dress and Steve to Studio H for Nutcracker rehearsal.

"I've been here for four years, Steve, you don't have to protect me," Bucky growls. He hasn't had his afternoon coffee yet. He catches Steve’s arm mid-protest and steers him back in the opposite direction.

“I’ve been here for four years, Steve. Studio H is that way.”

\---

It's 5:30 pm and they are sacked out on the couches by the physio room. A pile of dance bags covered by Natasha's tutu are to Bucky's right while Natasha herself is wedged between Steve and Bucky on the other side, ostensibly fast asleep. Carol is sitting on the overstuffed chair to Steve's left and they are chatting quietly. About the erosion of professionalism in dance, or something? Heavier than Bucky is willing to humor even if he could withstand a glance from Carol without panicking.

Sharon is sitting on the floor with her back braced against Steve's legs. With one hand over one shoulder, she is giving Natasha a light foot massage. Bucky's attempt to participate was firmly rebuffed.

Bucky's phasing out, getting closer to the headspace he will need for the performance in a few hours, when Carol stands to leave. Then she pauses, turns and looks straight at him and Bucky maybe, _maybe_ flinches visibly as she studies him. But then of all things she reaches over, pats his knee with a smirk, and moves off.

Bucky draws in a quick breath, like he might speak. Steve laughs.

"Don't suffocate, buddy. We talked about how adorable it is that you're so intimidated by her. She'd probably be your friend by now if she wasn't enjoying it so much."

Bucky huffs a little and tries out a little spontaneous breathing. Steve pats his knee again, and Bucky remembers that the solution in all cases is punch Steve Rogers as hard as you can in the shoulder.

They are assured that they will firmly regret waking Natasha but only when they least expect it.

\---

"So. How did it go?" Steve says once Bucky makes it in the door to their apartment. He is blocking the door to the bathroom, preventing Bucky from initiating his ritual get-the-hairspray-out-of-my-hair-immediately shower routine.

"Oh, Concerto was fine. I’ve danced it so many times I will probably still be doing it fine after I’m dead.” Steve doesn’t move out of the doorway. Bucky glares.

“You mean the rest of the day? I still hate Ballo della Regina, Stark's a genius but no one ever wants to work with him so what's that worth really, I saw Pepper Potts in the hallway and ducked into a broom cupboard on instinct so I'll probably have to explain that at my midyear interview, I might have accidentally phoned it in tonight during the show and I can't find my gray leg warmers. Which I can only imagine is because you sent them to be dry cleaned or something equally ridiculous." Bucky would rattle on if it would make Steve stop obstructing the entrance to the bathroom, but then he smells coffee coming from the kitchen and redirects.

Steve follows. "That's great, Buck. I can hear all about the broom closets of Covent Garden just as soon as you tell me the only thing you _expressly avoided telling me_."

Bucky sighs through his nose directly into his mug of coffee. It is unclear at this point whether Steve is glaring at him for drinking coffee at 11:00 pm or if omission is his main offence.

Luckily for Steve, no one with a soul can deny him when he's looking stern and disappointed at the same time. He seems convinced Bucky isn't the superspy at hiding things that Bucky knows himself to be.

"Learning Mercutio is fun. Is great! I mean, working with Jonathan is great." Bucky says to his coffee.

"Try again," Steve says, mock scolding.

"Uh, I enjoyed it?"

"No, I'd really like you to put some effort into this one, Bucky. Brain-related effort."

Bucky tries to make a production of opening a granola bar but Steve plucks it out of his hand. It has the intended effect.

"Fuck you, Steve. Having you here is great, and you and Carol were just... beyond, you know? And my rehearsal was fucking nothing. I learned the steps maybe? And achieved 'mischevious,' at best, for character. Jonathan was nice and I sucked." Bucky grabs for the bar and Steve lets him have it, shaking his head.

"I really love this part and I'm going to wreck it, Steve. And you're here now."

Steve lays his hand over Bucky's on the counter, which says what it always says.

Not true, and not going anywhere.


End file.
